Do you wish you had a secret room to store all of those giant boxes of cereal, empty beer bottles, random-and-seldom-used kitchen accessories, but could also double as a broom closet? Well, I have one, and I can tell you I wish it was twice the size it currently is!
It started off as a mere hole-in-the-wall, but before we even built the kitchen we outfitted this little pantry with sliding drawers from Lee Valley, basic Rubbermaid shelving, and some hooks and bits to hang brooms, etc…
For a while, it functioned pretty well, but it wasn’t pretty:
Now, in the back shed of the property, there was a huge pile of random wood, fence posts, and doors, and leftover trim. That’s where I spied what I thought would be the perfect accessory to hide the mess (ahem, pantry supplies)
Honestly, there wasn’t much to “reno”. I loved the paint exactly the way it was, so I merely wirebrushed the whole thing down. Hubby used special hardware for the hinges, so that when you release the door, it softly closes the way a screen door would.
The door hardware I found at our closest Habitat ReStore. If you have never been to one of those places – today would be a perfect time to start. You can donate your leftover/unused renovation materials and they resell it at basement bargain prices. The profit goes to support Habitat for Humanity projects. We’ve had much luck over the years; even got a huge bevelled double vanity mirror for the upstairs bathroom for $30 – which I had been quoted $260 new from our local glass shop!
After about a year of using the pantry, it still works like a charm. I did paint the trim black because the standard white we are using throughout the house seemed too stark and new against such an old door. A coat of flat black helped to tie the new trim with the old look.
What a great find – right on our own property! To me, it seems like the door was meant for this purpose. Wonder what it was originally made for? If doors could talk…
Graphic designer. Daughter. Ex-engineer. Sister. Wife. Mom to three. Obsessed with colour. 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the door! Where did you get the inspiration to paint the trim black? Totally makes it pop. Funny…no one left beautiful doors lying around our downtown townhouse…
Hey Claire! Thanks for reading!..I just wanted something that wasn’t bright white, yet complemented the door. My friend Kim came to the rescue b/c she already had the matte black paint from painting her bathroom, and I didn’t need much!
My sister in-law has since taken a yet another door from our barn to divide the linen closet from the bathroom in their place. They are going to install it using sliding barn door hardware. Can’t wait to see the final result!
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